The underlying structures of the two arrays were not identical, but their sense of seclusion and absolute containment was cast from the exact same mold.
Li Fan could even make a bold conjecture: the inspiration for the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation might very well have been this Xuantian Nether-Locking Array.
The word "Xuantian" naturally brought to Li Fan's mind the Profound Heaven Sect that had long vanished in the river of history.
Could anomalies in the world truly be traced back to the era when the Profound Heaven Sect still existed?
Did that mean one might encounter anomalies even inside the Fallen Immortal Realm?
Li Fan pondered these stray thoughts as he studied the array diagram.
The diagram had been crafted through some special technique and encrypted with multiple restrictions, preventing outsiders from glimpsing the Nether-Locking Array's full structure.
It allowed someone without deep knowledge of arrays to deploy the formation through a foolproof, step-by-step process.
"A truly marvelous thing!" After studying it for a long while, Li Fan temporarily abandoned the idea of unraveling the Nether-Locking Array's full structure and sighed softly in admiration.
In the intervals between his routine inspections of the construction progress, taking advantage of moments when no one was looking, Li Fan inscribed the Xuantian Nether-Locking Array into Congyun Immortal City as it gradually took shape.
While Li Fan was exhausting his mind over the construction of the floating city, hundreds of millions of li away in the territory of the Five Elders Association, the wisp of consciousness attached to the puppet body was enduring quite a miserable time.
Nearly two full months had passed since he had arrived before the bamboo hut to listen to the scholar's lectures.
He had not gained much insight into the concrete workings of the Five Elders Association.
Instead, he had been forced to memorize countless legends of cultivators reshaping heaven and earth within the Heavenly Realm of Humanity.
Wang Linlang, obsessed with beauty, had vowed that "the mortal world shall never see white hair"; thus, within the Heavenly Realm of Humanity, even octogenarian mortals possessed heads of lustrous black hair.
Yue Chengjin, abandoned by his beloved and consumed with bitterness, had cursed that "all lovers under heaven shall turn out to be siblings," leading to decades of tragic, forbidden romances. Fortunately, through the power of wishing from a pair of truly devoted lovers, the rule of "turning out to be siblings" had finally been reversed.
Qu Su loved fishing but was often plagued by empty-handed returns, so he made a grand aspiration that every fish under heaven must bite upon seeing bait, turning every person into a master angler.
...
Such tales were too numerous to count. At first, they sounded amusing enough, but being forced to listen to them day in and day out for three whole months was naturally unbearable.
Yet, like the other cultivators before the bamboo building, Li Fan was entirely unable to control his own body.
Even shutting out the scholar's voice was impossible; he could only absorb it against his will.
Li Fan even discovered that everything the scholar said seemed deeply engraved into his mind, impossible to forget even if he tried.
Thus, everyone sat with sullen, frustrated expressions, enduring the scholar's brainwashing.
On this day, having spoken for an eternity, the scholar finally showed a trace of weariness.
He stood up and stretched lazily.
"As the saying goes, seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times. Even if I were to lecture for another century, it would not compare to you going out to walk and see for yourselves."
The scholar looked at the cultivators from the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals and offered a genial smile. "I give you three years. Within these three years, you may freely travel anywhere under the jurisdiction of the Five Elders Association.
"Three years from now, you will return here. When the time comes, I hope you will tell me in your own words what you think of the Five Elders Association."
With that, the scholar turned and slowly walked into the bamboo building.
As the bamboo door slammed shut with a rumble, the restraints binding everyone vanished instantly.
"What is the meaning of this? He's just letting us go?"
The crowd from the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals was filled with suspicion and unease.
"Could this be some kind of conspiracy?"
"This fellow Daoist is truly frightened out of his wits, jumping at every shadow. Right now, aren't we just meat on the chopping block, waiting to be butchered? What need is there to plot conspiracies against us?"
"Humph! Why puff up the enemy's prestige while destroying our own morale?"
"Heh, as I see it, though Fellow Daoist Lu Fan's words sounded harsh, they made plenty of sense."
...
Although the crowd babbled noisily, not a single person dared to stand up and leave the valley.
Li Fan shook his head slightly, paying them no mind.
He walked straight toward the direction from which they had come, drawing sidelong glances from everyone.
The further he drew from the bamboo hut, the more his shrunken body slowly expanded back to normal size.
Aside from that, he met with no resistance whatsoever.
Walking out through the long tunnel and arriving outside the cavern, Li Fan discovered that the armored cultivators who had previously guarded them were nowhere to be seen.
He took to the air, trying to find traces of Wanxian Island.
Yet where Wanxian Island had once floated was now entirely empty, without leaving behind the slightest trace.
"I wonder if the Five Elders Association ever found what they were looking for."
Li Fan swept his gaze across his surroundings and could not help feeling a pang of desolation, realizing that vast as heaven and earth were, he had nowhere to return to.
Just as he was quietly feeling melancholy, he suddenly realized something was amiss.
He was never one to indulge in sentimental brooding or put on tragic airs. Why would such a thought pop into his head out of nowhere?
The image of the scholar flashed through his mind.
Him?
While Li Fan was inwardly alarmed, a shout suddenly drifted from far below: "Daoist Jiao! Daoist Jiao!"
Stunned for a moment, Li Fan only then realized the shout was meant for him.
Looking toward the direction of the voice, Li Fan saw that it was the cultivator named Lu Fan.
"Where does Daoist Jiao intend to go? Why don't we travel together?" Lu Fan had followed him out of the cavern, searched around, spotted Li Fan, and hurriedly rushed over.
Seeing Li Fan looking at him without responding, Lu Fan explained, "The territory of the Five Elders Association is vast, no smaller than the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals. In an unfamiliar foreign land, we know neither the place nor the people. Traveling together, we can at least look out for each other.
"I've heard that of all the domains under the Five Elders Association, Carefree Paradise is the most alluring. Not only does it offer all kinds of incredible pleasures, but there is also that wondrous substance known as the Carefree Crystal—consuming it makes one feel ethereal as an immortal, ascending straight to supreme bliss..." Lu Fan's tone carried a hint of excitement.
Li Fan stared at him for a moment and asked, "If I remember correctly, you formerly held the post of Clerk in the Congyun Sea Administration Hall. Having lived on the stipend of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, now that you've regained your freedom, why don't you think about returning to your homeland? Instead, you look eager to join the Five Elders Association?"
Hearing this, Lu Fan froze completely.
Then beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, and his face turned deathly pale.
Seeing this, Li Fan understood.
It truly was that scholar's doing.
The Five Elders Association certainly had a knack for manipulating hearts and minds.
Lu Fan muttered under his breath, "What terrifying methods. If not for your reminder, fellow Daoist, I might not have noticed even now."
A moment later, Lu Fan let out a long sigh.
"No wonder the Five Elders Association felt so confident letting us leave. Even though I clearly realize my thoughts have been influenced, I still cannot change them.
"Even knowing that the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals is my homeland, I simply cannot muster any desire to return..."
While Lu Fan was rambling on, he was startled to find that Li Fan had already flown off into the distance.
"Where are you going, Daoist Jiao? Take me with you!"
"The One Heart Immortal Sect!" Li Fan replied without looking back.
Chapter 501